Competing in arguably the toughest conference in Div. III, the men's tennis team faced another trying season in 2010, finishing the year with a 7-8 record. For the sixth straight year, the Jumbos fell short of making the NESCAC Tournament, winning just three conference matches (3-5 NESCAC).
"The results were what they were," graduating senior tri-captain Dan Landers said. "We would have liked to have gotten ranked and gone to NESCACs, but we are satisfied with the way we competed. We tried our best, and that's all we can do."
Although the squad did not lose any of its players to commencement at the end of the 2009 season, the Jumbos lost their first-seed singles coming into the 2010 season when graduating senior Jon Trott left the squad. However, with three new freshmen on the team, the team trained hard and ended the fall season with two impressive wins against Salve Regina (9-0) and Babson (8-1). Entering the spring season, the Jumbos' hopes were high.
"We knew the conference would be extremely tough, but I think it went pretty well," graduating senior tri-captain Andrew Rosen said.
The Jumbos' season came down to one final match against Bates on May 2. The winner of the match would have a chance to compete in the NESCAC Tournament the following weekend. Tufts started out strong with two doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3, while rising sophomores Ben Barad and Andrew Lutz lost an 8-5 match at No. 2. But Bates routed the Jumbos in the first four singles matches. In a grueling three-set match, Barad was unable to pull out a victory, while Lutz managed the only singles win for the Jumbos in a tiebreaker.
The Jumbos started the season with lofty goals in mind, but their hopes were quickly pushed down after one weekend of NESCAC play, losing to Middlebury (9-0) and Bowdoin (8-1).
While Tufts had little chance against Middlebury — the top Div. III team in the country — the Bowdoin match demonstrated the squad's newfound resilience. Tufts won No. 1 doubles 8-2 and pushed the No. 13 Polar Bears to two three-set matches in singles. The Jumbos faced Brandeis as the second match of the day after Bowdoin, and they managed a 2-1 doubles lead heading into singles. However, the Jumbos fell just short of a win at 5-4 despite a grueling three-set deciding match at sixth-seed singles.
"When we're playing against such tough teams, it makes it hard to compete," Landers said. "We've done pretty decently."
Despite the rough losses, the Jumbos came back and fought hard to beat Hamilton (7-2) and Wesleyan (8-1), notching their first two NESCAC victories thanks to strong showings from Barad and Lutz. The duo succeeded in respective singles matches at No. 3 and No. 5, and they teamed up at No. 2 doubles to beat out a tough Hamilton lineup 8-5. Against Wesleyan, the pair dominated the Cardinals with an 8-2 victory, and Barad won another singles match at No. 5.
"The freshmen have definitely had a positive impact on the team this year," Rosen said. "Starting in most of our singles and doubles matches, they've pulled out a lot of really good wins and made a big impact in both lineups."
Despite falling 9-0 and 8-1 to nationally ranked Williams and Trinity, respectively, the Jumbos sandwiched those losses with a strong showing against Wheaton and followed up with a victory over Colby, winning handily against both lower-ranked teams.
"There's a big drop-off in the NESCAC, and we take advantage of it by beating the teams we're supposed to beat," Landers said.
The Jumbos' season came down to the match against Bates, but Tufts could not pick up the victory. Still, the players were pleased with their overall performance.
"I think we performed as well as we could, and it was sort of disappointing that we just missed making NESCAC," Rosen said. "However, it's the closest we've been in four years to making NESCAC, and I hope that the team can continue to play better in the future."
